Pearl

Owen was freed. There was no barrier; I knew the truth. I didn’t remind him of Mary Weaver again.

When I saw him in his red collared shirts with the rolled up sleeves and blue jeans, I couldn’t help but grin. He bought me milkshakes and burgers at the diner with the money he earned from his fights, and he bought me a plethora of blue dresses so that I felt fancy at the actual matches.

Father watched all of this with conflicted attitude. While he loved Owen, trained with him, knew how good of a man he was, Father had trouble knowing that we were together. He had gained the best fighter of his career, but feared that he would lose a daughter. Or maybe, he hoped that because Owen was a fighter we could both be embedded in the Old Hitter Pit. And I would never leave him or our town.

At the time, mind you, I was a girl of eighteen and the thought of Owen drove my heart crazy. He was everything I had never known that I wanted and he knew that I was almost at the verge of throwing everything away –Sarah Lawrence, my dreams of studying abroad– for him.

I was just as bad (if not worse) as Jane had been. Sometimes I thought that if he had asked me to give it all up for him, I would have done it. Luckily, something held me back and Sarah Lawrence was still at the forefront of my mind, alongside my dear Owen.

However, while I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him, the fights began to draw him away. It seemed that Owen had a huge engagement every month, taking him to Chicago, Detroit, New York City. His training spurred on and his hyper focused rituals before a big match made him withdrawn and quiet, as his mental preparation was his most important hurdle at times. But when he came home with a big smile on his face and grabbed me to spin around in a circle, it was so worth it.

One night after we had finished dinner, Owen came to help me clean up in the kitchen while Father and the girls watched the television. “Things have been going real well for me, Pearl,” he murmured as he dried the clean dishes I handed him.

“I know, you’re gonna be a big star,” I said ruefully. He grinned, but then looked down.

“Your Daddy thought that I should tell you about something that’s come up. It’s a big opportunity,” he said.

I glanced through the entryway and caught my father glancing at me from the sitting room. His eyes darted back to the television screen.

“What is it?” I asked, shutting off the water and drying my hands on my apron.

“I got offered to do a European tour by Mr. Moz. Remember him from the fight in Nashville?” He looked sheepish.

“You’re going to Europe?” I repeated. “For how long?”

“Four months,” he answered after a moment of hesitation.

“When would you leave?”

“Next week, if all goes well.”

“B-but, I go to Sarah Lawrence only one month after you get back.”

“You’re still planning on going to school then?” Owen muttered.

“Owen, of course. If we’re gonna get married, I at least want to get my studies in first. But how’s that going to happen if you leave for so long? And then when I leave for even longer?” There were fresh tears welling up in my eyes, but I turned the water on and started ferociously scrubbing the dishes.

“So you’re gonna marry me?” He smiled wickedly.

“If you ask me proper one of these days, maybe I will.”

“Alright, I will make a proper proposal when I win the Heavyweight World Champion title. Then you’ll never be able to say no,” he said, “It’s gonna work out then. The Europe thing will put me on the map and when I get back I will train and you’ll go to school. I’ll win big and we’ll get married. Sound like a plan?” He reached over and shut off the water again. Then he gently tugged my face up from under my chin so that I could look at him square in the face.

I beamed at him through my tears, “Yeah, that sounds wonderful,” I muttered through my congestion. He stepped forward and firmly hugged me. Then he hollered above my head, “I told her Mr. Wilson! She isn’t gonna kill us!”

“Wait, is Father going too?” I asked.

“Yes, Pearly. I am,” Father had gotten up and walked into the kitchen.

Owen gave me a heartfelt glance. Oh God, I thought, that means I will have to stay here and take care of Momma and the girls. Alone. I will be alone.

I smiled through my miserable thoughts and found myself saying, “You two will have a wonderful time.”